PUPILS at a Birmingham secondary school left devastated when their end-of-year prom was cancelled by a city hotel at the last minute, made up for their disappointment last night.

PUPILS at a Birmingham secondary school left devastated when their end-of-year prom was cancelled by a city hotel at the last minute, made up for their disappointment last night.

The Year 11 ball for pupils at Baverstock School in Druids Heath should have taken place at Westmead Hotel, in West Heath, on June 15 to celebrate the end of this year's GCSE exams.

But the heavy rain which hammered Birmingham over several days earlier this month resulted in flooding, causing a power failure at the venue.

Unfortunately, more than 100 pupils, and 50 school staff, continued to get ready for their big day unaware that the ball had been called off.

Headteacher David Green said they only discovered the hotel had no power at 4.30pm, even though it apparently went off in the early hours.

Parents who had spent money on buying or hiring special suits or gowns, and hiring limousines, were bitterly disappointed at the late cancellation.

But frantic re-arranging over the last couple of weeks resulted in the ball going ahead last night at the hotel - much to the delight of pupils and parents.

One mum, Mandy Smith, who bought a prom dress specially for her 16-year-old daughter Maria, said today: "It was wonderful.

"The teachers did a fantastic job and my daughter really enjoyed herself. Sadly, about 25 pupils couldn't go because they were on holiday, but Sainsbury's donated flowers to provide button-holes and corsages for the girls.

"We were obviously very disappointed when the ball was called off barely an hour before the limousine was coming, especially as we'd spent a lot of time and money making this such a special night."

Mr Green said they only discovered there had been a power cut when someone from the school went to the hotel in the afternoon to put up balloons.

Limousine company Home James did not charge extra on top of the original booking.